• conditional_soup@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    I am a computer programmer, this is exactly how it works. Why else do you think electronics have fans in them if not to blow fresh, crisp wifi in and stale, soggy wifi out?

  • NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Will probably make the signal noisy, so I’d avoid this. I would recommend just putting the router in a booster seat, so it’s higher off the ground.

    • 9point6@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Funnily enough this may actually have a positive impact

      People used to create tinfoil, tin can or wok based reflectors for WiFi to guide the omnidirectional signal into becoming a directional one.

      I think the reflective part of some mirrors is essentially tin foil, so it probably would have a mild boosting effect in the direction of the mirror

      Edit: in fact if OP’s fan has a rounded metal cage on it, you could take the front half off and you’ve basically got a WokFi setup there, with added danger

      • 🐑🇸 🇭 🇪 🇪 🇵 🇱 🇪🐑@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Also if it’s close enough, the metal of the fan itself serves as a pretty decent antennae. You can accomplish the same by taping a fork to the box!

        It’s the silliest little lifehack yet wrapping a wire around a fork, then wrapping the other end around the router works so well

      • over_clox@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        You’re not wrong. Matter of fact, you’re absolutely right!

        Back around 2011, I used a pie pan and USB WiFi dongle to snag the neighbor’s WiFi. My pie pan contraption basically tripled the signal strength, and I never had a single dropout. 👍

      • umbrella@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        i have used a long tin can, similar to a pringles can before to steal a neighbour wifi back in the day. this is legit

        • 9point6@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I’ve heard about this but not had loads of time to read into how it works and how effective the algorithms are. Do you happen to know about it in depth? I’ve wondered for a while how much efficiency is actually improved by the beamforming and what the limitations are

          Like I’ve read about cantennas that fire 802.11g over several hundred meters, which in my understanding is obviously is out of reach for regular WiFi antenna even with beamforming algorithms (or is it? I actually don’t know)

          • Bytemeister@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Read up on Yagi antennas.

            Essentially you are stacking waves. If you have an array of trasmitters, you can have them send a constructive signal or a destructive signal as a signal “wave” passes them. Using this property, you can change the shape of the wave propagation. Think of it like throwing a stone in a pond, and then throwing in a second or third stone at the exact right moment to combine the ripples, creating a stronger wave in a particular direction depending on when and where you throw the stones.

            • 9point6@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Man, I’ve always wondered how yagi antennas actually managed to produce a directional beam vs something like a dipole. Your comment has really made it click for me, honestly big thanks! Very clear 5-9

              • Bytemeister@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                Yep. Now imagine each element on the yagi antenna is its own antenna that can be triggered by a controller, instead of just being one big “dumb” antenna. Now by timing the “firing” of each antenna you can create a directional beam in pretty much any direction.

            • Natanael@slrpnk.net
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              1 year ago

              We use it for talking to distant satellites, but then we also combine arrays of large directional dish antennas with beam shaping algorithms

        • kbotc@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Yep, and the fan moving in back almost certainly will fuck up beamforming as reflections are fairly important to get the beam to do object avoidance and if your reflective surface is angled and moving quickly…

  • iamnotdave@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    No because the fan that is boosting the Wi-Fi to you would prevent your computer requests to the Wi-Fi box.

    So while it’ll be easier for you to get a YouTube video It would be harder for you to actually type a search. 👍

    • Holzkohlen@feddit.de
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      1 year ago

      Just use an electromagnet instead. Invert the polarization to attract or repell all those pesky wifi particles. This way it boost botb up and download speeds.

      • candyman337@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        Reminds me of the time I worked in IT and someone put a department’s wifi access point on top of the microwave. No one fessed up to that one lol

        • VieuxQueb@lemmy.ca
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          1 year ago

          I had a friend complaining that his new computer I built for him was crashing a lot.

          So I go there and spend a good bit of time trying to make it crash. Nothing.

          Then his girlfriend gets bored and picked up the wireless phone. Bam ! Computer crashed!

          It had to happen another time for me to realize it crashed when she was picking up the wireless phone. Turns out the phone base was on top of the computer. Tha cpu was a AMD 950MHz and the phone a 900MHz phone. I have no ideas if the frequency is at fault or the phone base was creating bad interferences somehow but taking the phone base away from the computer finally solved the problem.

  • Gladaed@feddit.de
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    1 year ago

    May work in niche cases where passive cooling is insufficient and overeating causes Instabilität.

  • npz@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    yes and you can also leave out a plate of cookies where you want a strong signal so the wifi waves will go there when they’re hungry

    • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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      1 year ago

      Don’t be silly!

      Wifi is not man, Wifi doesn’t eat cookies

      It eats lead. That is why wifi antenna’s have a bit of lead surrounded by copper, so it can lure the wifi with the lead and catch it with the copper. Also why it stops at lead walls since it is like a buffet for them.

  • raubarno@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    Ask ElectroBOOM, he would definitely make a video rectifying it *bang* OUCH F___ S___ why is there a loose wire?

      • JokeDeity@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Same here. 🤣 I absolutely love when people have the skill of typing out something that your brain reads in a specific voice and manor.

  • redcalcium@lemmy.institute
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    1 year ago

    Putting a fan begin your router won’t boost the range because photons emitted by the router’s antenna won’t be affected by moving air from the fan. Putting a floodlight however…

    • doctorcrimson@lemmy.today
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      1 year ago

      Even if they were affected by any measurable amount, the photons move so much faster than the air that it’s an absolutely negligible difference incapable of being measured. It’s like 1 trillion divided by 1 trillion and 1 equaling approximately 1. The outcome is unaffected by the extra 1. It’s a non-factor. I’m trying to explain this for the future not-smart-people but I think I’m just making it much worse.

  • JackbyDev@programming.dev
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    1 year ago

    Alright, so according to Bernoulli’s principle says that moving fluids result in a lower air pressure. Light and all electromagnetic waves are fastest in a vacuum. Lower air pressure is closer to a vacuum. So… Marginally? I have no idea how much but I’m guessing it’s miniscule enough to need special equipment to detect. Not worth it. Plus the fan itself could block the waves. The fields around the wires powering the fans would have an effect as well. All of this is going to be super minor but I think the physical blockage of the fan is going to have more of an effect (but still teeny tiny) than anything.

    • Sailing7@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      In order to be unessecary specific:

      if it would benefit the waves:

      it would only benefit the outgoing waves.

      The waves coming back feom clients, transmitting data back to the wifi access point would have to fight against this additional airpressure.

      But this is all only hypothetical and i am sure in the real world it would make no difference even if there would be a benefit in theory.

      And yes you are correct the electromanetic field of the spinning fan would definitly harm and not improve the signal quality.

        • Natanael@slrpnk.net
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          1 year ago

          No no no we make use of MIMO beamforming and let the uplink signal get reflected towards the back of the fan so it slipstreams into the router

  • HiddenLayer5@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    If it has metal blades then it will reflect some of the radio signals, making the transceiver more directional. With how it’s set up in the post, it could potentially be a benefit to devices that face the front of the router and fan, but a disadvantage to devices behind the fan. Same logic with that Facebook trick of putting tin foil or cut up drink cans behind the antennae.

    However, most newer and higher end routers use beam forming antenna arrays which are already directional and can automatically focus the signal toward your devices. Having reflectors around those can actually interfere with the antenna array and decrease speeds for all devices.

    • MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      Beam forming is a bit more complex than just being directional.

      It makes the signal stronger in the target location, but the antenna is still very Omni-directional. It’s just using extremely small signal offsets between transmission antennas to optimise the amplitude of the signal in the area of the receiver.

      Directional antennas can still very much help, as well as wave guides to push more signal in the desired direction (sacrificing signal in another, potentially undesired or unrequired direction).

      Source: over 10 years in IT with a focus on wireless network technologies.

      It gets really interesting when you get into mimo and multi-user mimo, and the system is transmitting on the same channel to multiple endpoints at once, with different data for each. Shit is crazy.